Senate Bill sb1510

    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SR 1510

    By Senators Miller, Crist and Sebesta





    18-201-05

  1                    Senate Resolution No. ____

  2         A resolution congratulating the owners and

  3         operators of the Columbia Restaurant on the

  4         occasion of its 100th anniversary.

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  6         WHEREAS, the Columbia Restaurant was founded in 1905

  7  with its flagship in Tampa's Historic Ybor City, and has grown

  8  to include five additional facilities, and

  9         WHEREAS, the restaurant was founded by Cuban immigrant

10  Casimiro Hernandez, Sr., and has been owned and operated

11  throughout the ensuing century by the next four generations of

12  the family, including his son, Casimiro, Jr., his

13  granddaughter, Adela and her husband Cesar Gonzmart, and now

14  the great grandchildren, Casey and Richard Gonzmart, and the

15  great-great grandchildren, Lauren and Andrea Gonzmart, making

16  the Columbia Restaurant a fifth generation family-owned and

17  operated business, with additional members of the fifth

18  generation being trained as prospective leaders and a sixth

19  generation of hope and promise recently begun, and

20         WHEREAS, the family persevered in keeping the

21  restaurant open throughout the years, including during periods

22  of decline in Ybor City, bringing in world class entertainment

23  to attract customers, a tradition continuing today with

24  renowned flamenco dancers, and

25         WHEREAS, after the flagship restaurant underwent $6.5

26  million in renovations in anticipation of its centennial

27  celebration, the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City now

28  encompasses an entire city block of 52,000 square feet and,

29  with 15 dining rooms, has enough seating for 1,700 people,

30  NOW, THEREFORE,

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    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SR 1510
    18-201-05




 1  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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 3         That the Gonzmart Family is recognized on the

 4  celebration of the 100th birthday of the Columbia Restaurant,

 5  the oldest restaurant in Florida, the largest Spanish

 6  restaurant in the world, and the economic heartbeat of Ybor

 7  City.

 8         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution,

 9  with the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to the

10  Gonzmart Family as a tangible token of the sentiments of the

11  Florida Senate.

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